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Mindfulness For Decision-Making

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Mindfulness is everywhere. You can’t read a magazine or website without it showing up in one way or another. There’s a reason for this and it’s fantastic that the western world is embracing this incredibly important mental health tool, but it always seems to be described the same way: “Being present in the moment” or “Create better focus”, when really it’s so much more than that.

beautiful woman brunette with eyes closed

Photo by Luciana Sena one Pexels.com

Did you know that when you sit and bring your attention to your breathing, being present, focusing on something specific, you’re really shutting down the chatter in your brain? You’re really taking control of what your brain is doing instead of letting it do what it naturally does when there’s free time, which is think about things and stuff and more things and then more stuff.  When you take over control and make your brain quiet down, you’re creating space inside yourself for your intuition to take the lead and guide you to what your inner being knows to be true. You’re removing the logic of your thoughts and letting what your heart wants to come to the surface. It’s your “gut feeling” all the way.

This is a hugely important tool for making decisions that you just can’t seem to settle on.  What direction should I go with _____? Which job should I take? What do I believe about _____ deep down? Why do I let certain behaviors make me so angry? This works for anything from what to eat for dinner to unveiling what childhood experience shaped the way you think about something.  

While there are tons of excellent guided meditations for this, you can do it yourself in just a few minutes.

1.Sit or lie down quietly and comfortably and close your eyes.

2.Take a few big, deep breaths and sigh them out while you let all of your muscles relax; feeling your body get heavy.

3.Then ask yourself a question and let it go.

4.Bring your attention to the air coming in and out of of your nose. Just feel yourself breathing.  

5.If you start to think about things, just be aware of it and bring your attention back to your breath. Stay there, breathing, just for a few minutes.

You may get an answer immediately or it may just come to you later on, but you’ll answer from your authentic self and you’ll know what to do or what it is you truly want in a situation.   So give it a shot! Keep doing it and it may soon become your go-to guide for everything you do.

Photo by Luciana Sena on Pexels.com

A Little Yoga Goes a Long Way

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Woman practicing yoga in tree pose during sunrise
How did it get so late so soon? Dr. Seuss

We have all felt the crunch of time snapping at our heels; demanding deadlines, frantic last minutes, looming workloads. In today’s modern world, time has become a precious jewel coveted and protected, how many times have you said, if I only had more time? It is understandable why you may find a thousand excuses to skip your yoga practice. But the truth is when you are the busiest you need yoga the most. Carving out a practice amid the mayhem will keep you balanced and connected to your mat. When life is pulling you in a thousand directions, stay steady with your practice by modifying; a short practice is better than none.

If you can’t take a full class or do your regular hour home practice, rather than skip it all together modify. Decide what it is you need. Maybe you were able to sneak in a walk at lunch, when you go home, find a quiet space (that may mean pushing a bed over to make room) and lay your matt down. Perhaps you do a few sun salutations, a few standing poses, and then settle into legs up the wall. Fifteen or twenty minutes of yoga and pranayama can have profound benefits to your nervous system, restoring your ability to walk through the busy days calm and centered.

Get up while the rest of the family or roommates rise before the bedlam begins. Set your alarm and take twenty or thirty or ten minutes even to do a practice. Start in Tadasana (mountain pose), move through forward folds and back to mountain a few times to warm up your spine. If you like to flow with your asanas, create a short Vinyasa then allow enough time to do a few seated poses and final rest.  Or hold a few poses breathing slowly, and again, always leaving enough time for corpse pose. Remembering to focus on your breath and or intentions. This is a wonderful way to set the tone for your day.

Maybe mornings are not your thing, you feel too rushed, too stiff, too sleepy. Try taking a few minutes in the evening to practice, to dissolve tension, to let go of the day. If you have children, make it a family affair. Establish twenty or thirty minutes before dinner, as yoga time, put on soothing music, breathe, and reconnect to your practice. When you build yoga into your life, it is like eating healthy. You may not always have time for an elaborate sit-down meal, but you can afford time to nourish yourself with something delightful like an apple, an avocado, a bowl full of brown rice and veggies. An evening practice is a soothing farewell to the day. It doesn’t have to be a long to reap the benefits yoga imparts; improved digestion, serener nervous system, soothing sleep.

If you have a space at work or a studio nearby that you can walk to at lunch, maybe this is the time you take for your practice. Or close your office door, turn off the lights, and throw your mat down for a few moments of yoga. You will be astounded how this clears your mind and makes you more efficient for whatever work is waiting for you. It has been scientifically studied that students and workers who do yoga on a regular basis are able to navigate through the workload more efficiently, it stimulates creativity by waking up your chakras (energy centers) and allowing your body to tune inward. Pushing through deadlines without giving your brain a break is like trying to drive a car with no gas.

Imagine not talking to your partner, lover, spouse for days on end.  Soon tension builds, you begin to feel disconnected from the relationship, perhaps even resentful. It is the same for a yoga practice. Touching base, checking in communicating with your inner self does not have to is important to keep connected. It doesn’t have to consume you. Give yourself permission to honor your practice, Click off the screens, rather than scrolling Facebook or handing your precious time over, set up boundaries for your practice, create a sacred space for it. Be clear, make it a priority, even if others inadvertently try to derail your efforts, simply get back to the mat and know that a little yoga goes a long way.

Does Yoga Work for Weight Loss?

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It depends how you use it.

            Yoga, as a discipline, is chameleon-like in its adaptability to whatever you desire to gain from it. It also has several unique benefits and requires its practitioners to develop skills that can be found nowhere else in fitness.

            Its roots go back thousands of years ago in an era when many health and beauty ideals were very different than they are today. It was meant for wellness in all of its forms, and versatility became built-in.

            Therefore, if weight loss is your goal, yoga has several mechanisms that can be harnessed to achieve it.

            Is it the best way to lose fat? Again, it depends. Yoga lends itself to a practice in which devotees can enjoy its benefits for many years, including weight loss. As a weight loss modality, it isn’t fast, but it is sustainable. And, if you use it in keeping with its original goal of total wellness, it can be highly effective.

            For example, recent studies are debunking the concept that different aspects of fitness, such as cardio, have compartmentalized benefits and should be developed in separate workouts. For several decades, cardio has been considered to be the best way to burn fat. And while it is an essential element of fitness and certainly can be a great way to get rid of excess calories, strength training is now beginning to be recognized more and more for its major role in weight loss.

            Almost all of yoga’s asanas involve static, or nonmoving, strength training. Muscles can be challenged by range-of-motion exercises, and by nonmoving ones such as planks or wall sits. While the specific benefits of these two types of exercise differ slightly, they both build muscle. And while yoga is typically thought of as a stretching workout, a major element of each class is static strength training. In order to support yourself and keep from falling over in Extended Side Angle, you have to use almost every muscle in your legs while you are in the long lunge, and to keep your upper body still as you fight gravity.

            How does this affect fat loss? More and more, it is being found that a faster metabolism, rather than immediate calorie burn, has much more impact on weight loss than was previously thought. And the most effective way to increase it is through strength training.

            The rate at which your body burns through the food you’ve immediately eaten, and then starts looking around for more fuel, is affected the most by how much muscle mass you have in proportion to everything else. If you’re concerned about bulking up, don’t worry—it takes a specialized training and nutrition program to do that. However, what more muscle will do is allow you to burn more calories per minute, even when you’re not exercising. You could literally be losing weight in your sleep!

Again, you might not burn as many calories during an hour-long yoga class as you might if, say, you went for a jog for the same amount of time. But, if you take into account the extra muscle you’ll build and how much your metabolism after the class will increase, a strength-focused yoga workout can be a very effective weight-loss tool.

yoga instructor in dancer pose

The only fine print is that the intensity level has to be fairly high as far as the amount of strength your workout requires. You don’t need to have dramatic amounts of flexibility to benefit from this kind of workout, but you do need to challenge your muscles in order to reap that metabolism boost.

Another way that yoga can assist with weight loss is through variety. If you do the same workout for too long without changing it up every once in a while or mixing it in with other forms of exercise, your body is going to get bored. This is true for both strength training and for cardio, both of which assist with weight loss through different mechanisms. That’s when the dreaded weight-loss plateau tends to set in, and it can become discouraging for your time and effort not to accomplish what it did before.

How can you use yoga to prevent this from happening? One selling point of yoga is that it is very easy to weave it in to your fitness regimen without slowing down what you’re trying to get out of your other workouts. For example, the exercises in conventional strength training usually require that you keep the movements within a certain range of motion where the joints are the least likely to give out under a heavier load. A strength-training program is the most efficient when you have a balanced range of motion. Too much mobility, and you’re prone to hyperextension and injury; too little, and you may not be able to move completely through an exercise and thus end up sacrificing some of the benefit.

Many of yoga’s asanas increase your gains in range of motion without requiring you to put weight on certain joints. For example, Natarajasana, or King Dancer, encourages extension and mobility in the lumbar spine, and is, of course, a weight-free exercise. The ability to control and preserve the lumbar curve is essential in weightlifting exercises such as deadlifts, and losing that skill paves the way to a herniated disk.

Also, many forms of cardio are, by their nature, repetitive. To some extent, this is a good thing, as this leaves you free to focus on the intensity of the workout and getting your heart rate to where you want it. However, once again, it is easier for a weight-loss plateau to set in after weeks of the same workout, even if you increase the intensity. Also, a common belief is that in general, cardio is easier on your joints. Unfortunately, this isn’t always the case.

Cardio is incredibly important for systemic health and for your heart’s ability to function properly, and is a crucial part of a balanced fitness program. Many of the potential drawbacks can be counterbalanced through yoga. Critics of cardio for weight loss often point to the loss of effectiveness due to the repetitive movements in the muscles. A muscle is going to stop growing as quickly and requiring as many calories to sustain itself if it is only asked to do the same movements over and over again without novel stimulation. Yoga’s asanas require the joints to stretch and support the body in a seemingly endless number of directions, which can easily be adapted to offset a plateau effect from jogging or the elliptical.

Also, yoga eliminates many muscle imbalances, focuses on healthy range of motion, and improves posture, thus taking much of the pressure off the joints. Also, adaptability is built into many yoga routines. It is rare to find two yoga classes that are exactly the same, and just about any yoga sequence can be modified to fit your needs. Many posture problems and muscle imbalances can be directly addressed through yoga, preventing uneven pressure from being put on the joints through unhealthy movement patterns. Cardio requires continuous motion, and if healthy movement patterns can be established, problems with shock absorption or uneven wear and tear can be prevented before they can become a problem.

Yoga’s history and benefits are vast. Its adaptability gives the practitioner an incredible versatile skill set for addressing a variety of health problems or fitness goals. If used properly, it can be a powerful asset in a weight-loss program. For those who practice it for its preventative benefits or who may simply enjoy it as its own discipline, these are some of the many ways yoga can enhance total wellness.

Clarisse McLeod, M.A., C.P.T., is a certified personal trainer, yoga, Pilates, and barre instructor specializing in weight loss, corrective exercise, and strength training. She is also the creator of Abili-Barre, a revolutionary exercise program that combines corrective exercise and modified ballet. A long-time resident of Ventura County, she believes that fitness should be fun, and creates safe, doable workout programs that build upon each client’s individual strengths to accomplish their goals. To get to know her and to understand a bit more about her training style, visit her website at www.personalbarre805.com.

Linking your social media to your Namafit page is a great way to stand out!

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When you create a Namafit account, you get a professional profile page with a unique URL address that you can use to promote yourself! Take charge of the level or privacy you want, and add your instagram, twitter, facebook and website links to your profile to get more exposure, more SEO love, and showcase your dedication. Stand out to employers and the industry!

Instructors, trainers, teachers, professionals aren’t the only ones who can add social links to your page. BUSINESSES can too! Go to https://namafit.com/business/edit to add your social links to your business page and get more exposure for the business you work hard to make successful.

Link your social media to your professional Namafit page
Linking your social media to Namafit is a great way to stand out

If you have a Namafit account already go to http://namafit.com/profile/edit to add your social links to your page.

If you haven’t created your professional profile page yet, you should! Just go to https://namafit.com/signup – it only take a few minutes and will open up new opportunities for you in this industry!

You can also confirm and adjust your account privacy by going to https://namafit.com/settings

Thank you for sharing your gifts with the world…and happy job hunting

Yoga…From Student to Teacher…A Never Ending Journey

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     Sixteen years have slid by since I first stepped on to a yoga mat, finally ready to commit to the practice.  I was living in Monterey, California at the time and dealing with both physical and emotional reasons for seeking mind-body healing. What I didn’t know, at the beginning of this journey, was yoga’s soft-spoken ability to seep into areas of my life that were fragmented by fear. Yoga gathered a circle of my splintered selves and invited them to meet one another; to join hands and unify. We all have sides of ourselves we reserve for private viewing only; the lonely, the frightened, the angry, the jealous, the immature, the happy, the giddy, the sad. Getting on my mat consistently gave me hope that I could dare to live to dream; that all circumstances are subject to change.

     Yoga surprised me at every turn and still does.  What began as a physical practice gradually morphed into a way of living in the world.  I smile remembering my utter commitment to the postures; wanting to perfect them, studying the correct Sanskrit name for each.  When one of my first teachers exclaimed that she could teach an entire class on breath work; I thought she was either exaggerating or a lunatic. Soon enough though, the breath revealed its illustrious power and I began to realize pranayama differentiates yoga from exercise.  The slow steady awareness of my breath began to carry me inward and the layers of societal conditioning and hurtful experiences started to melt away. Often, an issue I imagined I’d already dealt with would arise during a practice as if a pose had unlocked a trapped door. Those stuffed feelings bubbled to the surface where I could then exhale them away. Their power over me dissolved…

yoga practicing woman doing a handstand in an orchard

…This happens over and over in yoga, emotions or thoughts flare up but the breath anchors the mind to the practice, where I can see more clearly.  When a pond becomes smooth after the ripple of a stone or the wind; vivid reflections appear. Yoga began to quiet my mind to stop the current of thoughts that vied for my attention. In the eye of the storm lies a serene place of stillness a haven from the hectic whirl of life. Yoga was and is my haven. When we moved to Bend Oregon, and it took longer than usual to find a place to live, I practiced yoga anywhere I could; in a cluster of trees, the ocean, a motel room, a musty gym with a leaky ceiling. It occurred to me that yoga was within and like my breath could travel anywhere I went. My practice became as essential to my well-being as taking my insulin every day (I’ve been a type I diabetic since the age of five). It kept me grounded and gave me choice. and hope in my own inner strength.

Although I still love a strong asana practice, I have learned to listen (not all the time mind you) to my body’s needs.  Sometimes settling into legs up the wall with a heart opener constitutes a practice.  Other times, I may do a two-hour session of power vinyasa.  I carry my mat around like a child’s cherished blanket.  While traipsing through Europe my mat graced the floor of airports and the dirt of vineyards; yoga grounded me to that true self that could lend an ear to the mind, body, and soul listening for direction.

When I began to teach yoga, I realized that I was merely a conduit.  It was through teaching and assisting others to be self-accepting that I learned to take my own advice. Who cares if you hold the wall while doing a balancing pose—it’s the intent, the breath that is the essence of yoga.  Unlike gymnastics, yoga is not a competitive sport and the more I taught the more I began to understand the true light of yoga; the gift of seeing a piece of ourselves in everyone. Yoga taught me to ditch judgments and condemnation and to give way to the commonality in all beings. That even the great sages and saints (and the modern yogic gurus) deal with temptation. Yoga has not saved me from meeting angry people or shielded me from crankiness on days that are packed with annoying things like traffic or the common cold —it has though helped me return to the breath and the practice to renew my sense of self.

The self that is unplugged from daily demands and worries; the self that is free to dance like a child in the rain filled with wonder and gratitude for the simplicities of life despite challenges. The yogic journey is a never-ending road with curious turns that reveal new insights, like the splendid colors of the ever-evolving sunrise.

Beyond the Metrics in Your Movement

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Have you ever had the number on the scale make or break your day (or week)? That reaction is deeply ingrained in our brain, but is so counter-productive to our wellness. Does you movement practice allow you to gauge your success by how you feel – not a number on a scale, dashboard, screen or spreadsheet?

girl jogging

Start your 2019 with mindful, purposeful movement in order to train (and re-train) you to move better in your body.  Screens and dashboards that measure how fast you are going and how you measure up to the competition or how many calories you are burning force your attention elsewhere and impair your ability to make brain-body connections. The use of metrics makes that harder, not easier. It is easy to become reliant on the machine for your workout.  This year, practice self-reliance. YOU are the machine and are in full control of it.

In this modern world, we spend so much of our time in front of screens and interacting with online communities that we lose our personal connection. Seek out a brick and mortar space because face-to-face interaction and physical touch is both necessary and therapeutic/healing.

Metrics are not as objective as you think. Machine calibration may vary and your heart rate can be influenced by your hydration, sleep, nutrition or how well you have recovered from a previous workout. Set technology aside, pay attention to how you feel and connect that to your behavior. What is working? What is not? Maybe you need a rest day or more sleep?  Identify causes vs. react to symptoms. Go beyond the metrics and connect with your inner powerhouse.

Yoga Keeps You Honest

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silhouette of left human hand

People often tout that yoga keeps them strong and flexible, but have you ever heard how yoga promotes honesty? Many of us approach yoga through an injury or when hunting for something alternative to our exercise regime or when on a quest for inner peace.  When you develop a habit of doing yoga on a regular basis, you begin to realize the deeper, more profound effects of the practice.  How then does yoga specifically, keep you honest?

First, when you step onto your mat, whether for the first time or the hundredth time, you must gently come to terms with where you are in that moment. Do you have pain in your back, neck, or shoulders? Are you anxious, are you tired or full of trepidation about being new to yoga? Acknowledging the truth about where you are beginning, helps you with self-acceptance and growth. It is okay to admit you’re not over the moon about practicing, perhaps you have a list a mile long of things you think you need to do. Once you’ve shaken hands with your present state, you can begin to breathe and work through the challenges, letting them go one breath at a time.

The asanas or poses require honesty. If you are new to yoga, be realistic, like anything novel, it takes time and practice to understand the nuances, to become proficient. You don’t learn a foreign language overnight, it takes years of study, speaking, practicing. The same is true for yoga.  There are many postures that I simply cannot do, even though I’ve been practicing yoga for twenty years. Because of how my body is structurally made; the only way I could sit in full lotus is if my legs were disconnected! You can have a beautiful truthful yoga practice, without mastering each pose. And remember, our bodies are uniquely made, the truth is, not all poses are good for all bodies.  For example, if you have lumbar stenosis or high blood pressure, doing headstands is not recommended.

Don’t be deterred by what you are not able to do, focus on what you can do.  Everyone can breathe. The breath is what differentiates yoga from other forms of exercise. Breath control or pranayama as it is called in Sanskrit calms and quiets the mind from the mayhem of chatter.  Kabir, the 15th-century mystic and poet once said; “In this visible matter is the invisible bird. Pay attention to her, she is singing your song.” You can learn to honestly pay attention through the breath and the flow of energy through the asanas. And if you have one of those days where you can’t squeeze in a practice—simply close your eyes and breathe for ten minutes. You can reconnect to that quiet space within, and that is yoga.

Yoga teachers cannot teach you honesty in your practice, it is through personal persistence and patience that you discover your truth. There are many styles and schools of yoga, find those that speak to you.  Remember a yoga practice is dynamic and ever-changing, just like your body. What you preferred at one point, may give way to something new.  Be honest with what you need from your practice; the calming quality of restorative, the physical opening of Vinyasa, or perhaps the repetition of Kundalini.

Classes are a wonderful place to experience the energy and inspiration of others. The challenge of classes is to keep your competitive or judgmental side at bay. Just because the woman in front of you can touch her toes, doesn’t mean you have to, particularly if your body is not ready. New students often get injured in classes, because they don’t want to modify or use a strap or a block. I always remind my students, this is not a performance, wrap up your ego and pick it up on the way out. Yoga holds space for you, modern society dictates enough of your time, use your yoga practice as a safe-haven to fully express your unique self.

Yoga supports your efforts to live with integrity, to be true, to be honest, and like all things that are worthy, it takes time and practice. It is a platform for mindfulness. When you become mindful, you wake up to the truth, and there is no more looking back at dishonesty as a choice. Yoga doesn’t require you to wear the right clothes or hold a handstand to become honest. All you need to pack with you on this journey is your willingness to let go of pretense in order to embrace your true self.

Finding your voice

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I like to sit quiet in wait like the wise owl , quietly observing my habitat, watching conversations enfolding, Keeping my distance from those whose ego gives rise to nonsense of knowledge. Then again, too often, I can also become the shrinking violet. Fearful my words, and stories are not worthy of attention. Always hiding in the corner, finding myself jealous of others ability to just be, and shine. Then there are those times where I speak from expansion of my own ego, feeding myself or others my own nonsense, and seeking praise or recognition from someone other than myself. There are moments when so much is to be said, but I become frozen in thought, too much thought, a lump forms in my throat, I am mute, silent by my own unconscious choice.

Mountain Ridge Path across the Sierras
Path through the Sierras

I have grown tired of walking this time worn road, I want to speak from my core without trepidation, to not tremble in fear from the sound of my own voice. To speak truths without causing pain, and to be a messenger of inspiration and hope!

I tuned in. Tuned into healing and finding balance in my throat chakra (visshudha in sanskrit), our communication center, our source of expression, gifting us the ability to speaking our highest truths. Chakras are energy centers in our subtle body, radiating from the base of our spine, to the crown of our head. These are the wheels of life circulating energy of uniting matter and consciousness. This energy is our life force, our prana, vital to the wellbeing of our souls expansion, our health,  to remaining vibrant. The throat chakra is one of our emotional centers, some believe the throat area is home to some of our emotions.

There are different ways to bring balance and harmony back to our throat chakra. I have embraced the act of singing, out loud, all day, anywhere, anytime, much to the embarrassment of my husband. I am just humming along, embracing my voice, finding silly tunes or songs popping into my head, one constant being the Indiana Jones theme song. I don’t even know where the tune came from. My husband has said we need to watch the damn movie, so I stop, and find a new tune. I have also embraced returning to our family kirtans, held every month. Kirtan is devotional chanting, and it is absolutely a magical experience every time. I am finding my voice, gentle, soft ,clear, and full of possibilities. Speaking my truths from my heart  without fear or anxiety. I am healing. I am.

Here are some other ways to find balance and healing of our throat chakra.

  1. Singing , of course. A beautiful throat cleanser.
  2. Wearing the color blue.  I love to wear blue jewelry near my throat chakra as well.
  3. Protecting our throats from the cold by wearing a scarf.
  4. Drinking lots of water, staying hydrated, and our throat moist.
  5. In meditation or a moment of stillness, imagine a lovely blue light radiating in your throat area. Inhaling and exhaling through your body!
  6. Crystal healing is wonderful with stones of blue such as, Lapis( a favorite,this stone helps expand our awareness, and self expression.)Turquoise( helps us to express our emotional issues, creative endeavors, finding your true path in life, and harmonizing us with our highest self.) Aquamarine( this beautiful stone has a calming, stress reducing effect, and also stimulates this chakra.)
  7. Certain yoga postures can also be beneficial. I enjoy shoulder stand, baby cobra,supported(with blocks) fish pose, and I love Lions breath.
  8. Journaling, write your heart out!

Some great resources for Chakra healing or general knowledge I recommend reading are:

“Wheels of life”  and “Chakra Yoga” by Anodea Judith, she is my absolute favorite.

“The complete book of chakra healing” by Cyndi Dale.

“Llewellyn’s Complete book of Chakras”, by Cyndi Dale.

“To speak well, and to speak well are two things. A fool may talk, but a wise man speaks.”- Unknown

How to Use Yoga to Start Your Day

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Every day is a different day. After practicing yoga for over 6 years, one thing that I’ve learned is to have intention in your actions and thoughts. Each new day is an opportunity for us to start with an intention and purpose that will permeate throughout the day. Here are three ways you can use yoga to be more mindful and purposeful in your life.

#1 Visualize Your Day

Start your day with mindfulness and meditation. Before you get out of bed, take a few minutes to visualize how your morning will look. Prior to leaving the home to head to work or to run errands, try to see how you want that to look. Will you need to make coffee? Freshen up in the restroom? Get dressed? What will you wear? Do you have to walk the dog? Vividly think about how you’re going to start to your morning and then begin your day. If it does not line up, that is OK. Try it again the next day until your mind is aligned with your actions. This quick meditation and mindfulness exercise will allow you to move with intention as you go about your day. Feel free to use it throughout the day (i.e. visualizing how your workday will look, and what your preparing for bed process may look like).

#2 Start with Pranayama

Breath is our life source. It’s important to reconnect with breath on a regular basis, either through yoga or meditation. The practice of pranayama allows us to connect to that life source that flows through us whether we want it to or not. A pranayama technique that I love to use is breath counting.

How to Count Your Breath:

  1. Sit in a comfortable seat in a chair or on the ground on blocks or a meditation cushion.
  2. Place your hands on your knees or find dhyana (concentration) mudra.
  3. Close your eyes and take your drishti or focus point inwards.
  4. Take three deep breaths and sigh audibly to exhale them out.
  5. After the last breath, take a pause and then begin to slowly inhale as you count up to 4.
  6. Pause at the top of your inhale and then count down from 4.
  7. Repeat by counting up and then counting down one more time.
  8. On the next two rounds, count up to 6, then to 8, then to 10.
  9. Once you’ve completed your last two rounds of counting up to 10, stay in your seat and breathe normally.

#3 Move Your Body

This last tip is what most people think of yoga, as a way of moving your body. While it is important, the yoga poses, or asanas, or only a fraction of what yoga truly is. Yoga is the connection of mind, body, and the present moment. I recommend doing 8 cat and cows, 3-5 sun salutations, and then a child’s pose (balasana) to start your day. Do this every day and reflect on how it makes your body feel. Listen to it, and modify if you need to.

woman in child's pose doing yoga
Yoga practitioner in child’s pose

Guest Contributor Profile: Alex Tran AKA Schimiggy is a Digital Marketing Strategist, fitness fashion, travel, and food-obsessed raconteuse. She currently resides in Seattle and teaches yoga while writing about her favorite topics.  Schimiggy Reviews is a lifestyle blog where Schimiggy shares her passions and interests with the world!

Prenatal Yoga: Growing with the Flow

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three women practicing prenatal yoga

Yoga at anytime in life is a wonderful and essential practice for wellness. Whether it be for children, the adult beginner, intermediate, or advanced seasoned Yogi. The physical, mental and spiritual benefits that come with regular yoga/meditation are numerous. I myself am a newly certified Yoga Instructor. I can attest to the life changing power of mindfulness coupled along with the poses of the body. Personally, I have recently began focusing on a new approach towards practicing and teaching yoga…Prenatal Yoga. Finding out that I am pregnant has obligated me to evolve my training. I would love to share what I am experiencing and learning thus far.

The first trimester can be filled with many different feelings. Surprise, happiness, fear or reluctance. Every woman is an individual and whatever emotions you experience when you discover you are pregnant are okay and perfectly natural. Doing yoga during this time can be very helpful for mental and emotional sentiments. The conscious breathing along with the asanas (poses) makes the mind steady. If you are considering starting yoga for the first time, the first three months of pregnancy are a great time to begin. Preparing your body and mind for the changes during the months ahead will do wonders for you and even for your baby!

Poses during your first trimester are still very doable and modifications are not quite needed yet for your growing belly. I have been able to still teach my intermediate and advance styles of Vinyasa. Listening to your body is important even when you aren’t pregnant so go at your own comfortable pace and never force any movements that you’re not used to doing regularly. Sun Salutations are good to do if you’re not feeling up to a full 45,60,75 or 90 minute yoga session. At least 10 minutes a day of any exercise is better than waiting until you have enough free time to do full sessions. Hip opening movements like Warrior 1 and 2 , Triangle, Side Angle and Bound Angle will prove to come in handy in all phases of pregnancy. Never too early to start the hip opener moves!

In the second trimester which is where I am now at 14 weeks is where the body really begins to change. More than just the morning sickness of the early months the weight gain starts to be felt and noticed (if not already) here in the fourth month. Keeping your routine of yoga and meditation is helpful here because it becomes easy to overeat and sleep. The baby is growing and depleting all your energy as well. Being mindful of yourself also helps to further gear up for labor and delivery. I now know that a lot of the time when I am feeling hungry and nauseous (even an hour after I just ate!) I am thirsty more than anything. Drink lots of water!

I’m feeling the extra pounds and when I do my yoga whether at home or in class, I still keep up with my normal routine. Although Chaturanga into Cobra pose can be done with more mind toward my belly now. Downward Dog is okay throughout the entire pregnancy journey. However, my breathing is becoming a bit heavy even when I am doing normal choirs. Deep Breathing from now till birthday is what I will be focusing on. Mindful breath actually takes away the feeling of shallow breathing. I worry before I begin to instruct that I will be huffing and puffing a tad bit too much but once I start to flow, inhale equal to exhale, movement with each breath, I become in control of my breathing. I make it through the 60 minutes of practice.

Third Trimester is what I am trying to prepare for. However handling each moment, day and week as it comes is what is important. I’ve been looking ahead and reading about prenatal yoga from my training manuals. Researching online is helping as well. In any trimester and especially now, don’t forget to eat a light snack one hour before and bring one snack with you if needed during a class. Pregnant women do have a higher rate of hyperglycemia during exercise. Focus on creating space for the baby in your movements. A wide stance is best so, as an Instructor, I would encourage legs spread and feet hips distance apart or more for supported ground while standing.

For a nice seated meditation I always stress the use of blocks, bolsters or blankets to sit on and for supporting the knees if necessary. Cat pose is a wonderful prenatal asana for a number of reasons. Being on all fours helps the baby get into optimal position and it releases pressure on the lower back. Engage the pelvis when making the spinal movements for cat. Downward Dog, Warrior 1 and 2 and Goddess Pose are all safe to do even late in pregnancy. Balancing poses like Half Moon and Tree Pose are great too when pregnant. Be sure and use a wall for support. Janu Sirsasana (Head to Knee) is good with the extended leg slightly outward giving more space for the belly. Squatting with your back agaisnt the wall and block between the legs is helpful. Remember… don’t forget to breathe!

Prenatal Yoga is a wonderful addition to the experience of being pregnant. It not only helps your body to prepare for childbirth. It can also prepare your mind and spirit for all the stages of this perfectly natural time called pregnancy. I was a little anxious at finding out that I am pregnant again (Baby #2). I still am nervous because it has been 11 years since my first. Having yoga as a tool for me to use this time around is a godsend I would say now. Everything seems to come at the right times in life. I hope this article can help all who reads it. If you are a first-time mom or a mother of many. Even if you are a dad, friend, or relative that finds this information useful for a loved one. Yoga for all at any time in life is helpful. Yoga for pregnant women is amazing so give it a try!